Books (neuropsycholgy of music)

[mandocrucian]

Our local library doesn't have any of these titles. Has anyone read any of these? Reactions?

The Dynamics of Creation by Anthony Storr

Music and the Mind by Anthony Storr

The Mozart Effect: Tapping the Power of Music to Heal the Body, Strengthen the Mind and Unlock the Creative Spirit by Don G. Campbell

The Mozart Effect for Children: Awakening Your Child's Mind, Health, and Creativity With Music by Don Campbell

Niles Hokkanen

[Ted Eschliman]

Pardon my hijacking the thread Niles, but if you don't mind, I'd like to add a query to the list (since I haven't read it myself, but have heard rave reviews) Effortless Mastery (http://www.jazzbooks.com/scripts/search.asp) by (jazz keyboard virtuoso/philosopher) Kenny Werner.

[August Watters]

I've read Effortless Mastery and can recommend it highly. It's all about gaining control of the thought process while performing, and avoiding all the ways we tend to shoot ourselves down, so that we can perform at an optimal level.

Another good one is The Inner Game of Music, a sequel to The Inner Game of Tennis.

[mandolinquent]

Oooooh! These sound really interesting! I'm majoring in psychology and minoring in music, so naturally everyone thinks, or suggests, that I should go into music therapy. However, I'm very interested in physiological and neuro- psychology and research. Maybe I should pick up these books and find a way to incorporate music into my psychological interests. Thanks!

[Walter Newton]

Hi Niles. I can't say I've read either of the "Mozart Effect" books mentioned, however a book by Martin Gardner I read recently in which he "debunked" the idea (at least as commonly understood; i.e. listening to music makes kids smarter) led me to realize there's quite a bit of controversy about the subject.

A bit of web searching led me to this article, which suggests Don Campbell may not be the most objective source for info about what researchers have actually discovered, at any rate:

http://skepdic.com/mozart.html

[jom]

Those books sound interesting.
-mandolinquent, I am a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience (degrees in psych) and a mando picker. Since we have similar interests, I thought I'd give you my email in case you have questions about either.

Jom
shammac@emory.edu